District 300 schools open despite snow

While most suburban kids were home Wednesday sipping hot chocolate and watching "Full House" reruns, Community Unit District 300 students trudged through several inches of snow to get to school.

District 300 was one of a small number of suburban districts that kept schools open Wednesday.

Some parents questioned why schools were open despite the slippery road conditions and the fact that most other districts closed schools.

Five or six buses became stuck in the snow Wednesday, but no children or drivers were injured, Superintendent Ken Arndt said.

Neubert Elementary School PTO President Camille Ziemann said District 300 officials should have had more foresight.

"We know in a situation like this we're going to get hit," Ziemann said. "The general safety -- it just doesn't seem like it was taken into consideration."

Hampshire mother Dawn Butler kept her three kids home from Gary D. Wright Elementary School after learning, to her surprise, that school was in session.

"I think it's disgusting," Butler said. "I'm very surprised that they would jeopardize the kids' safety."

Sandy Schuster, a District 300 mother who also lives in Hampshire, said the district should have exercised the same caution it showed when it canceled school twice earlier in the year.

On both of those days, the weather didn't turn out as bad as expected.

"They erred on the side of caution with those days," Schuster said. "I think they should have erred on the side of caution today."

Neubert mother Kathleen Burley said she understood why Arndt would want to limit the number of snow days the district used.

"I almost understand he was probably gun-shy because of what happened last week," Burley said. But she added, "By looking at the weather reports, he knew that there was no way (the storm) was going to miss us."

Arndt said he made his decision by 5:30 a.m. Wednesday after checking weather forecasts and consulting with other superintendents.

"Hindsight is always 20/20. We've already had two school snow days this year, which have proven to be not that bad," Arndt said. "I was hoping that would also continue on today, but obviously, that was in error."

Arndt said he fielded many calls from parents who were upset with his decision.

"I just erred in judgment," Arndt said. "Those other two days, we could have had school."

Because of the snow days, the last day of school for students now will be June 17 -- five days later than originally planned, Arndt said.